Healing the Nightmares
by Mable
Summary: After a nightmare filled with memories and worries, 9 is assisted by his best friend. However, things have been changing between 9 and 5, and after tonight things are going to change drastically, but in what way? Oneshot 5x9


**Mable: Here's a request fic for Allyson. Allyson, I'm sorry about the mix up with the last request and I hope that this one remedies it! I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

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_**Healing the Nightmares**_

_He couldn't scream, he couldn't breathe, he could only watch as the needles came at him. Tearing into his burlap, hitting his metal only to be pulled out and put back in again. Stitching into his fabric without thread and stabbing without mercy. By now all he could feel was pain and true fear. Undeniable fear that caused him to tremble harder than from the actual pain. Surprisingly, the pain was numb, as though it wasn't really there and it was more of the motion that caused him such fear. That was, until he looked over and could see another. _

_Five was lying there on the ground nearby and was unable to move. His optic flicked around and showed his own terror with his body frozen. "Five!" That choke of a voice couldn't help the other in any way. All it did was bring a third into their mix and a shadow loomed above them both. Something started to approach and Nine looked over to see the heavily damaged body of the Fabrication Machine. Its optic looked dead, there was no red glow of any kind, and the hulking Machine went straight for Five. _

_Nine struggled against the needles. "Don't touch him!" He almost begged to no avail. More needles impaled him and began rushing quicker, the groaning of the Fabrication Machine emanated but sounded strangely high pitched, like a scream, and Five's own weak voice then spoke._

"_Nine…"_

_Nine watched as the Fabrication Machine's claw circled Five's body and lifted him off of the ground. There was a horrible dread in his insides, "No… No, no, not again, no!" His optics wouldn't shut, they couldn't, and he could her that horrific song playing from somewhere. It was almost as though it was coming from his own chest. The once soothing song about the wonderful place 'over the rainbow' now haunted him and he felt a few choking sobs make their way out. "Five, no..." Then there was a sudden flash of green light and he knew what was happening._

"_**FIVE!**__"_

"Nine?!"

Then everything seemed to disappear into darkness as Nine's optics opened wide. The Fabrication Machine was no longer looming and the needles were not stuck in his fabric. His arms and legs were restrained still inside some sort of fabric so he began to panic out of reflex. Other hands that weren't his own helped him get the fabric off in gentle tugs and only then did he finally get a look around. It was dark and he was on the floor, much to his confusion, wrapped and tangled in his own blanket. "What-?" His voice wavered off so only that word got out.

He tried again, "What happened?" That's when he recognized the one who had said his name and had tugged the blanket off of him. Naturally it was Five who was a key character in his nightmare. To see Five standing there alright was such a relief. Five himself looked absolutely concerned and was now wide awake, "You were screaming and then fell out of bed. Are you okay?" Nine nodded slowly and found himself curling up a bit almost to protect himself, "Yeah. I'm fine. It was just a… A nightmare." As though it was to convince himself instead of the other.

Five's hand touched his shoulder reassuringly, he was careful with his movements as though he was afraid that he would manage to startle his friend further, "I'm sorry. It's all over now." As though this was his fault in some way he had apologized. "Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything." Nine tried to block the pictures of the dream from his mind while Five responded, "You… said my name." He admitted. Nine realized that he must have done so but didn't want to tell the other his dream. Especially since it so much resembled a memory of what had happened before.

"I…I can't remember much, but I think you were there." He chastely explained before smiling a bit, "I should be the sorry one. I didn't mean to actually wake you up." He knew that Five was one of those who got up to help Six whenever he had nightmares and expected nothing less when the Stitchpunk was sharing a room with him. "I'm guessing you were trying to wake _you _up." Five added jokingly and managed to ease the mood quite a bit, "I'm just glad you're okay." The two of them then sat in silence for a little bit.

Nine wasn't jumping to get back in bed so Five shifted from his kneeling position to sitting down on the blankets beside his friend, leaning back against the bed. They quietly stayed there a little longer until Five slipped an arm around Nine's shoulders. While Nine knew it was clearly just a friendly gesture it felt too warm to treat it as such. He found himself nuzzling his face into the warm area of Five's shoulder and neck. The one eyed male flinched a little, but in a surprised way instead of in an uncomfortable way. But after a second he rested his own head against Nine's.

He could only thank everything that Five was here with him. He had almost been taken away once and the nightmare only reminded him of it. Now, having the other's warmth on him, Nine felt much better. "It's still early, right?" He asked and Five nodded. They had been keeping time by an old pocket watch that Two had gotten to work again and somehow set, "It's not even midnight yet. Do you think you can go back to sleep?" Nine shrugged a little, "I can try." That's when the curtain suddenly was pushed open.

"Five, Nine? Is everything alright? Who was screaming?" Two's concerned voice could be heard and suddenly Nine felt quite embarrassed for waking the others up with his screaming. "Nine had a nightmare." Five explained, pulling back from Nine and beginning to stand. The latter almost felt empty from having his companion pulled away, but at least Five helped him to his feet. Two approached Nine and rested a hand on his arm, the older male's face furrowed with worry, "Are you alright, Nine?" Nine forced a reassuring smile, "Yeah, I just fell out of bed."

This caused the Inventor to chuckle, "It happens to the best of us. Get some rest and you'll feel better in the morning. It's still the middle of the night." Nine nodded and went to grab his blankets off of the ground as Two said a goodnight to his apprentice and left the room after a few seconds. Maybe he knew that Nine and Five could handle it alone. As soon as he was gone Five started to help Nine fix the blankets across his bed. He was quietly watching his friend and still seemed unsure, "Are you sure that you're okay to go back to sleep?"

The younger nodded confidently, "I'm pretty tired. I'm hoping I can get back to sleep quickly. Six didn't ever mention nightmares reoccurring, did he?" Five paused to think, "I don't think in one night." Then he reassured, "You'll be fine." Nine hoped so as he climbed into bed. The Healer wandered to his own bed and crawled under the covers as well. The room fell into silence and the second that occurred Nine realized that maybe he wasn't as ready as he thought. He was suddenly fearful again, his mind wandering to the nightmare and refusing to leave.

Then, as though he read his mind, Five spoke, "Nine, are you sure you're alright?" This time Nine answered, "No." A few moments passed before Five offered, "Want to bunk with me for tonight?" He had his answer by the way the zippered male shot out of bed and crossed to his bed, yanking the blankets down and crawling in beside his friend. He realized afterwards that what he was doing was pretty childish and probably invading Five's privacy, but needed the comfort. They laid there for a few seconds before Five decided that Nine was probably still not completely better.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked in a whisper as though they had to be quiet now that they were in bed. Nine again shrugged and pulled the blankets high enough that they covered his head. Almost in an attempt to block out the rest of the world. His best friend rolled over and stared at his covered head for a few seconds before lifting the blanket, "I guess I'm going to have to go in." He stated, a playful comment in a relatively normal tone, and dipped under the blankets. Now with his friend he prodded further, "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I don't know." Nine murmured before exhaling, "I sort of want to, but I… I don't really want to remember." His friend nodded and reached out to put a hand on his arm. "I just want to help you feel better. We don't have to talk about it; we can just go to sleep." A few seconds passed before Nine suddenly slid closer, underneath Five's arm as though making the other hold him, and pressed into the buttons on his front, "The nightmare was about you." He admitted, "It- the Machine- it had ahold of you and… And I don't know why it scared me so much, but I felt so helpless."

Suddenly it made more sense to Five than ever before. Nine clearly still felt guilty about the Machine awakening and letting it run amuck, so it was obvious that a nightmare about it would hurt as well. He squeezed the arm around his best friend. "It would've scared me too, Nine. It's okay to be scared." Nine didn't seem convinced and so the Healer tried harder, "Nine?" The male suddenly refused to look at him and so Five raised his free hand to gently caress Nine's cheek, "I'm here for you."

That's when the illusion broke. Nine looked at Five in surprise, Five looked shocked and pulled back from Nine, and then they sat there awkwardly. "We're doing that thing again." Nine pointed out, "When we touch each other a lot." He didn't sound surprised or distress, but Five immediately apologized and thought he did something wrong, "I'm sorry, Nine. I was trying to make you feel better." Things had been awkward between them both for a while now. As Nine had suggested, they had been having moments of being closer, but this was the first time that they had gotten that close.

Nine knew that he liked it a bit more than he should have, but didn't understand how that was possible. After all they were best friends and best friends didn't touch each other in that way under any circumstances. Before he could come to a conclusion he felt Five's weight shift as he started to sit up to get out of bed, "I'll just… I can sleep in your bed." He suggested, but Nine immediately retorted against it, "No, Five, please." He was so confused, but that didn't change the fact that he didn't want to be alone, "I don't want you to go. Come back to bed."

The one eyed one obeyed and sat down on the bed, but didn't lay back down yet, just sat there quietly. The moment was tense before Nine himself sat up and slid closer, suddenly embracing Five from behind. "I didn't mean that I didn't like it Five. It's different, but it does feel nice to be held like this. To be held by you and to hold you back. Especially after all of that…" His mind trailed off to the nightmare once again, "I just… I can't stop thinking what if I lose you again and what if this time I can't get you back."

This seemed to tug at Five more than the touches that he was currently receiving did and he turned to face his friend before returning the embrace, "I'm not going anywhere. You know that." He insisted as he began to get a warm smile, "And I sort of like it. It's different than it was before, but maybe that's a good thing? I never actually got to hold you like this back when we were just friends." Nine agreed with his own little smile, "Something has changed, but it's a good- wait." He suddenly caught what Five had said, "Back when we were friends?"

"Umm…" Five struggled to correct himself, "That… That came out wrong. I meant… I don't know what I meant. I just know that we've changed into something else so maybe we're not only friends anymore?" Nine wouldn't deny that his pulse seemed to quicken in near delight when Five had said 'only'. "That's true, but then what are we? Is there a way to be more than friends?" Suddenly Five shifted himself to rest his head upon Nine's, coaxing him to lay down with him, and his younger friend complied as they stretched out on the bed.

The zippered male reached down and grabbed ahold of the blankets to pull them over their bodies, increasing the warmth. "What would you like to be?" Nine asked softly, having a feeling that Five knew more then he was letting on about this entire situation and as such the one eyed one responded softly. "We could be mates." Nine immediately sputtered in surprise; while relationships were foreign to him mostly, he knew exactly what mates, and what mating, was and could be. His pulse quickened and he bluntly asked, "Are you sure?"

The Healer took this the wrong way, "We don't have to. I wasn't… Wasn't trying to make you feel uncomfortable." He stumbled over his words and Nine tried again, "Five, just calm down. I'm not upset." There was a small pause as he pulled back to look at the one eyed one. Now he needed to be the one to reassure him, "I just was making sure. I mean, I'm not really the best possible mate candidate." He pointed out. Nine had learned a lot during his brief feelings towards Seven when he learned about romance and one of these was that the most common types of relationships were male and female.

"You're considering it?" Five asked in a hushed voice and Nine's answer was an immediate, "Why not?" Before Nine could even consider what he had just said, he suddenly had all of the air drained from his body as a warm mouth overtook his own. Slightly rough lips upon his own that retreated after a few seconds. The moment had clearly been a spur of the moment thing, but it still felt so wonderful that Nine's shock was overwhelmed by the want to try it again. Before Five could wait too long Nine leaned forward and joined their lips once again. It felt too good to pass up.

This time there was no immediate rush to pull back, to the delight of both parties, and they allowed a few extra seconds of pleasure to pass as they grabbed each other for dear life. For the most part Five cuddling had helped the nightmare, but this obliterated its impact completely, this simple kiss changed everything. There was no going back, but Nine didn't want to go back to being just friends after he knew that this was what waited for him. Soon they needed air and had to pull back, but at this time there was no going back.

"Five," Nine began, "Let's try it. I don't want to lose any more opportunities with you. I love you, we can't just let it go." Maybe it was the words 'I Love You' but Five was immediate to agree, holding Nine close and responding with, "You don't know how long I've wanted this, Nine." He sputtered out, "How long I- I love you- how long I've _wanted _to love you." A flurry of words that basically assured that they could do this. However, Nine couldn't deny that he was tired, and pressed against Five, "I'm getting tired" He admitted and Five chuckled a little.

"I guess we forgot how late it is. Get some rest, Nine. I'll make sure the nightmares won't come back and I won't be leaving you, ever." And for that moment Nine knew he wouldn't and only then was he able to drift back to sleep in the comforting warmth of Five's embrace.

The stayed together and there were no more nightmares.

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_** FIN **_

**Mable: Again, I hope everyone enjoyed!**


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